Bulk Cooking with Quinoa Part 1

Today I'm going to talk with you about one of my favorite things quinoa!  If you haven't cooked with it yet you should and here are just a few of the reasons why:

• Great source of fiber
• It is a cholesterol free and low fat source of protein 
• It's a seed not a grain
• It's a super food!
• Contains all 8 essential amino acids
• Those with gluten or wheat allergies can eat this to their hearts content!
• Great option for vegans or vegetarians instead of rice or beans!

As a mom I love quinoa because it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with, I can hide it in foods and my kids think they are eating meat instead, and it is so versatile that I can cook a bunch at once and make different meals.  

I'm a big bulk cooker - why make the same mess in your kitchen week after week if you can cook in bulk and make the mess in your kitchen once a month instead!  Do yourselves a favor moms and cook in bulk, life gets simpler with bulk cooking and eating out happens less and less when you have meals prepped in the freezer and all you have to do is thaw and eat!  I spend one day bulk cooking meals for a month.  

Last week I cooked 10 cups of quinoa and made 3 recipes with the cooked quinoa.  Today I will show you my "meat" loaf recipe (I have to put the"" around meat because there is so little meat and so much other good stuff in the recipe)

 "Meat"loaf recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of quinoa
• Head of cauliflower
• 1 pound of organic grass fed beef
• 1 ripe large organic tomato
• 2 small cans of organic tomato paste
• 1 cup of bread crumbs or ground oats or ground cashews (you can use whatever your favorite it in this recipe)
• Seasonings of your choice (since my husband and I don't eat meat this meal is only for our kids so I keep seasonings to a minimum a little garlic salt and pepper and they love it!)

Directions:

• Steam cauliflower then blend in a blender with a tomato (you could use a hand mixer or food processor, even a potato smasher would work.  I have a vita-mixer so it is my go to tool in the kitchen)
  
•  Mix your cauliflower tomato mix into the quinoa.  The tomato added isn't so much for flavor as much as it is for color helps this dish still look like meat - which fools my ever so picky kids into eating it!
• Mix in your ground beef, seasonings, bread crumbs, and tomato paste (the tomato paste helps everything bind together really well)  Mix everything really well, I usually can't mix it enough with a spoon and end up mixing the old fashion way with my hands (yummy)
  
• I cook this meatloaf in muffin tins.  I do this because it is easier to serve and freeze for the kids.  It also helps me know exactly how many weeks worth of meals I have at a time.  The meatloaf also defrosts way faster this way, so I can pull them out in the morning as I am planning meals for the day and by lunch they are done and just needed to be heated for a few minutes in the toaster oven or stove
  

 Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or till it looks done.  The recipe makes (give or take a couple, depending on the size of cauliflower) 24 meatloaf muffins.  Which for my kids will last 6 weeks!

One of my other favorite things about cooking quinoa with meat is that it doesn't shrink!  You know how when you cook a big old meatloaf and it looks great in the pan and then you pull it out after it's cooked and it is half the size!  That doesn't happen when quinoa is in the meat - what you put in the oven is what you pull out!  Success!

I laugh on the inside every time I watch my kids eat this "meat"loaf because I could never get them to eat quinoa or cauliflower and yet they will gobble down this dish.

Tomorrow I'll post the 2nd meal I made from the 10 cups of quinoa I cooked so stay tuned!